"I was having a great Thanksgiving," she says. But the story made Teresa think of two young men, sons of women she knows, who are in the military.

"What I liked about the organization was that it supports soldiers who don't have a good support system."

It's hard to believe, hundreds of people from Oregon are serving abroad who get no mail or packages from home.

AnySoldier lists names of military contact people with different units. Each contact person has put together a list of soldiers and others who get no mail. The Web site lists special requests; most are modest.

"I started looking around the Web site and I realized you could sort by where the unit is from," Teresa says. She picked Oregon. There was a list of contact people. Teresa read blog entries written by all of them, and one caught her eye.

"I found Spc. Ian McKee's blog. What I liked about it was he was specifically asking for items for some of the women in his unit," Teresa says.

Teresa works for the Cheetah Conservation Fund, so she travels to Africa frequently. Some of the items the women were requesting were things that Teresa had for use on her African expeditions. The items were new and unused, still in their packaging. "That's important," Teresa says. "They say on the Web site 'never out of the box.'"

Teresa had bars of special soap and other hygiene items. She and her teenage son also picked movies on DVDs to send.

Then she bought cigars, which were on some of the men's wish lists. "I'd never bought cigars in my life. I went to Albertsons."

While there, she also bought candy canes and a Santa hat, Christmas M&Ms and Christmas paper napkins.

The Web site had emphasized that the most important item to include is a personal letter. "They especially love little kids' notes," Teresa says. She doesn't have a little kid, but she sat down at her computer and wrote a little about herself.

Since she was including this year's Christmas card in her package, she talked about the people whose photos were on it. Her teenage son had just received an award in Washington, D.C., she wrote. And her mother had been a nurse during World War II.

Teresa knew she probably wouldn't get a reply. "On the Web site it says it's not guaranteed." She didn't mind.

She signed her letter and headed to the post office.

Until she read the column, Teresa says, she hadn't realized the post office sells boxes you can fill and mail at a relatively inexpensive flat rate. And if you're mailing to a serviceman or woman, you get a discount.

She sent the package the day after Thanksgiving. "The postal guy was so excited," she says.

Exactly one week after the package was mailed, Teresa received an e-mail from Spc. Ian McKee. He'd received the package and was delighted.

"It was so fast I couldn't believe it," Teresa says. "I was astonished to hear back at all."

"I am the combat medic for the squad, so I go out on missions with everyone as their medical support. If anyone get sick, needs medical advice, or god forbid gets hurt out on the road, I'm the man they turn to."

Ian said the recipients had been "so stoked" by Teresa's gifts. He said he'd wear the Santa hat "to formation on Christmas to spread a little holiday cheer." The other gifts "were more than I could ask for."

Teresa said the e-mail made her laugh. And she was touched when Ian wrote, "as for your mother, tell her thank-you for me. Her being a nurse during WWII is a huge inspiration for me since I'm a combat medic. I couldn't imagine what she went through. Just tell her I'm keepin' the medical corps strong here in Iraq, watching over my crew one mission at a time."

When Teresa read the note to her 85-year-old mother, "Mom was thrilled."

Teresa suggested I write another column to let people know it's easy, inexpensive and quick to get a package to an Oregon (or Washington) serviceman or woman abroad. If you mail soon, it will get there by Christmas.

And yes, these Americans could use packages all year long. But some won't get a thing from home this holiday season. You could change that.

Teresa hopes you will. "It was one of the most positive experiences I've had in so long."